Elk Droppings

These have been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. And while the name is less than flattering, they are truly addicting (just ask my friends and coworkers, they ask me for them every Christmas).  You could always call them Reindeer poop! What you will need is:

1 cup Choco Chips

3 tablespoons corn syrup

1/2 cup canned condensed milk

2 1/2 crushed vanilla wafer cookies

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup sugar

Melt choco chips using double boiler (or microwave) add corn syrup and canned milk. Remove from heat.

Combine crushed wafers, chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar (set aside other 1/2 cup)

Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and mix well. Once thoroughly combined set aside for 30 minutes to cool.

In separate bowls pour your sugar and powdered sugar. start rolling your mixture into ball forms (i do mine about the size of a ping pong ball) then roll them in either the sugar or powdered sugar. If you find the mixture is too stickey just walk away and let it set for another 20 minutes or so. It will be alot easier to work with.

Store in an airtight container in a cool place, I put mine in the garage, for at least 3 days, a few more is better. Yes I said 3 days. You'll just have to trust me, these just taste better after a few days.

It has began

Moving day is upon us! This weekend I was busy cleaning our new house top to bottom. I shampooed every inch of carpet and cleaned every drawer, counter top, mirror, window and floor. And despite how tired it made me, I was so happy to have it done. I even used some of the cleaning tips from THIS great site.  Now we have a few days to take it easy, and finish packing up a few box's at the old house before we do the big move on Wednesday. 

My number one tip for moving is label, label, label. I may not label every single item that's inside a box but I make sure to label what room it will go to. And if your going to be short on time after getting into you new home I recommend labeling your box with a number system as well. 1. for box's with things you need right away (dishes, toiletries, clothes...) 2. items that can wait a few days (extra kids toys, extra linens, excess canned goods...)3. finishing touches ( books, crafting supplies, decorating items, spare bedroom items) Also mark your furniture. Put some painters tape or masking tape on it and write what room it will go to. It might be obvious to you what dresser goes where but friends or relatives helping move might not know.

Make sure to plan ahead. For this week leading up to the move I planned out a menu to make it easier on myself and to use up some of the food we had on hand. There are two reasons for this, I knew I would be busy packing in the evenings after work. And the more extra food we ate now, the less I had to pack. I also go ahead and pack up the glasses and dishes a few days before as well. Paper plates and plastic cups work great. Its still 3 days before we move and all that is in my kitchen is a can opener, 1 pot, 1 cookie sheet, and silverware. My pantry is also totally packed except for a few cans we will eat the next few days, and our fridge has mostly condiments. The freezer has a few pre-made meals that I can just warm up. Not only will this make your life less stressful in the few days before, but you'll save money on food and wont be tempted to order take out and waste money!

If you are having people help you move and unpack (and your a perfectionist like me!) labeling your box's will help alot. If you take the time to label them properly, people wont have to open a box to figure out what room to take it too. For the last few moves I wouldn't let anyone help me put things away in the kitchen. Its a very personal preference where you want things and sometimes its just easier to do it yourself, rather than spend the extra time telling someone else. This time I had the bright idea to make a diagram. I did a simple drawing of my kitchen that has the drawers, cabinets and pantry. Then I just wrote down what would go where. I think this will help so much! This way if my mom and I are working in the kitchen and I get pulled away for some reason, she can continue to work without me. Also by taking the time to think about where i want things before hand, I wont have to re-arrange so much later... I might even keep the diagram around for awhile so my Boyfriend cant use the excuse that he doesn't empty the dishwasher because he doesn't know where anything goes HA!

Recipe organization

Wow its really almost been a month since my last posting? Guess time flies when your taking care of a baby, a boyfriend, buying a house and enjoying the holidays!  Since I haven't had any spare time to do any crafts or decorating projects I thought I would cheat alittle and show you something that's already done that you might like to steal the idea. As Iv mentioned in the past Im an organizational freak of nature, so I thought I would show you one of the many things I organize.
You'll need:
   Binder (or several if your like me)
   a bunch of those clear plastic sleeves
   Tabs to help organize (the kind that are sticky so you can attach them directly to the sleeves)

This un-assuming binder holds my recipes. I used to have books, magazines, computer print outs and little note cards with recipes on it. They were EVERYWHERE and I could never find the one I wanted. Finally I sat down with everything and just started ripping out pages. Now I know some of you would be appalled to rip pages from a book you spent so much money on, but my logic is; I know what my family likes to eat. and those large books may have hundreds of recipes. My family may like 15 out of that 100. So why keep all those extras? If it really bothers you to ruin the book or magazine. just make copies and give the books to a friend to clutter their home. HA!

Now that you have a large pile of recipes its time to make an even bigger mess. start going through them and organizing them into categories. Its completely up to you how you want to do this. For an example mine are organized into side dishes, crockpot recipes, and quick and easy meals. I also have a main dish category that is broken down into chicken, beef, pork, and pasta...AND since all my recipes don't fit in one book I have a separate book for all my deserts and cookies, AND another that has bread, appetizers and breakfast. (can you tell I like to cook?)

Basically you just start putting your recipes in the sleeves, making sure to add tabs to separate them as needed. Pretty simple right?

A few perks to taking the time to do this:

1. Less clutter! Good enough reason in my opinion

2. Its easy to throw a recipe away if you make it and don't like it. (so you don't forget and make it again)

3. Adding notes. Im constantly trying new things and tweaking old recipes.

4. They don't get ruined! if you spill something while cooking simply wipe it off!

5. Easy to find! I don't have to search through 2 books and 5 magazines to find that one cookie recipe I want.

And finally here's a little tip. When printing recipes off the Internet or if a friend gives you a recipe you like, Print a picture! (I prefer color) It might cost you extra in ink but I think its worth it. You eat with your eyes as well as your stomach, and being able to see what something looks like really helps me. Also I can sit down with my boyfriend (or picky eaters/kids!) and plan what we want for dinners. Guys and kids are very much visual people and it helps them get excited about what your making if they actually can see what it is. I don't know how many times I try to explain to someone a dish Im making only to have them give me a blank stare. Now I can just point to a picture!



Flake free glitter ornaments

Christmas is fast approaching and like many people I have an obsession with glitter during the holidays. But once midnight strikes on the new year; like Cinderella and her pumpkin, its gone.  The last thing I want after that is glitter in my home. It seems no matter how much I vacuum and clean it still appears as if by magic everywhere around the house. So when I stumbled across this stuff at my local Micheal's I silently thanked whoever was listening to my prayers for a solution. Glitter on the inside! Duh!!  Now Im sure your going to tell me this stuff has been around forever and its my own fault for not using it before.  But I didnt know! 

To makes these wonderful ornaments you need:

Plain clear ornaments

Fine glitter in the color(s) of your choice

Glitter it! glue

I was able to purchase everything at Micheal's, and Im sure any craft store would have them as well.

Simple pull the tops out of the ornaments and pour in about a tablespoon of glue. Gently roll the glue around inside to coat. Resist the urge to shake during this stage though. it could give you unwanted air bubbles. once full covered you can take the top off your glue bottle and pour and excess back in.

Next add your glitter. Now you can put your finger over the hole and shake to your hearts content! I used Martha Stewart fine glitter in Crystal. In hindsight I probably should have used a more vibrant color for this tutorial but I wanted them to look like glittery snowballs on the tree, so I used the white.

After the inside is fully covered you can pour out the excess glitter. Let dry. Im told that after its dry you can add a second coat of glue/glitter to get a less translucent  look. but I personally liked to opaqueness of it. Im hoping when I put them on the tree it will allow the lights to shine through.  Or maybe tying some pretty ribbon and hanging them from the light above my dining room table. Should make a pretty effect!  Im debating about doing some colored ones and adding a monogram on the outside too! so many ideas could work for these.

Update: Iv also been seeing all over the web that you can use Pledge with Future Shine floor wax in place of the glue. I havent tried this. I might in the future, but for now Im happy with Glitter it! And its pretty cheap too. :-)

Recipes

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

Weekend round up.

I had big plans for the weekend. well maybe not big, but plans to get things done. I wanted to pack some boxs for the move, make some christmas ornaments, sleep (you know, sleep is that thing that doesnt really seem like its possible when you have a baby) Too bad baby had other plans.  Poor little lady got sick saturday, thankfully not bad, but for a 2 month old everything is bad. She didnt want to be put down at all. Even her swing which she normally loves couldnt comfort this little one. And to make it worse she had that really sad, pull at your heart strings, pitiful weak cry. I think this cry is specially designed to bring even a baby hating freak to their knees. How could you ignore that?  By Sunday night I had gone insane. no really. totally bonkers. Here is the proof. 

I laughed for a solid 10 minutes after.  So needless to say I didnt get anything done other than carry around a 12lb child all weekend.  But I guess I cant complain, she is pretty cute. Even with a diaper on her head. 
I have everything I need to make beautiful glitter ornaments at my house, and my munchkin is feeling better so with any luck maybe I can accomplish that tonight. And the best part about these ornaments? they wont leave glitter all over your house!  Keep an eye out for the tutorial.

Happy 4 days after Halloween!

Ok, So I know its a few days after Halloween, but since I didn't have a blog before all hallows eve I thought I would share today.

Let me just start with I love my baby. And I realize that she may have mixed feeling about me, usually dependant on how long I take to make her bottle. But I fear what I did to her on Halloween might be the last straw. Im convinced if she could use her chubby little fingers to dial the phone Child Protective Services would have knocked on my door already. I stuck my child in a pumpkin. A cold, slimy, gross pumpkin. What kind of Mother am I? I had such a cute idea for  a Halloween picture. Turns out some ideas should just stay in my head. Take picture A:

My poor child. The minute her cute little diaper covered bottom hit that pumpkin she knew it was not ok. Her Mom had gone off the deep end and she vowed to let me know it.  For those of you that have not raised a child, or for those of you that may have forgotten, at 2 months baby's have usually reached a certain milestone. They have learned how to fill their little lungs with lots of air and put it to good use. Screaming.

Never again will I put baby in a pumpkin...til next year anyway.

Have you ever tried to go shopping for a kids costume between the ages of 0-6 months? Let me save you the trouble of looking. There arnt any. Atleast nothing cute. so being the crafty little mommy I am I decided to make one. I kicked around a few ideas first. Lobster in a pot? while this would go perfectly with my costume ( a 50' house wife/Betty Crocker) I just didn't think it was the route I wanted to take. Hmmm, how about Robin? as in Batman and Robin. made sense because I dress my first born (the dog) up as Batman, this year could finally be the year he gets a side kick. But despite the name, I knew robin was a boy. And I just thought 2 months old was alittle young to be cross dressing my beautiful baby girl.  Then it hit my one day while doing laundry. A Sock monkey! I had once thought of doing her nursery in this theme, and just love them. So I dug through my boyfriends old socks...Now before you get on me about how gross that is or call child services on me, let me tell you a few things.

1. I said old, not dirty. they have been washed.

2. I simply wanted to make a template first. before I went out and wasted money on new socks to cut up.

3. Its my child and I'll dress her in whatever I want

But after several failed attempts I realized using actual socks wasn't going to work. I wont get into the logistics of it but trust me it was a pain. On to plan B. We ordered a toddler size sock monkey costume on line. My plan was to simply shrink it down to size.  Did I mention I have limited sewing skills. yep. I taught myself to sew. 2 months ago. With my Great Grandma's sewing machine from the 1900's.. or maybe the 40's, who knows. In any case its old, and Im a novice.  But after a few hiccups I figured it out. I was slightly disappointed because it was far from perfect, and sadly Im one of those annoying perfectionist type people. Turns out though I needn't worry about the flaws. I forgot some very vital info. I live in Oregon. And the end of October is cold, and it gets dark pretty early. My hard work ended up being covered over the whole evening by a blanket as I pushed her around in the dark with a stroller. Oh Well. At least her hat was cute!

Day 1, hopefully there will be a day 2

Hello and welcome to my attempt at Blogging. Iv been obsessed with checking out other peoples blogs for awhile now (mostly because i have nothing better to do some days) and finally came to the realization that I could do it too. In no way am I saying it will always be entertaining or informative or even politically and grammatically correct. But it will be about me, and my life. And if you don't like that, I will be OK. Life for me will go on basically just as it did before. So don't you worry your pretty little head about me.

Ok, so here we go, blog one. How about we start with the basics. Seems logical to me anyway.

I am 26 years old and live in Oregon. Whatever your opinions might be about the good old Beaver State, keep them to yourselves.  I love it here. Iv bounced around to Arizona and Louisiana and driven through pretty much every state between Washington to Texas and California to Missouri, I just keep coming home. Now I realize I cant speak of the other 47 states Iv never lived in, but I think its safe to say that I know where I belong. In fact the wonderful man I love and I just purchased our first home in Central Oregon. (I look forward to telling you all about it and the changes we will make in future blogs) Let me just admit a crazy fact about myself right now. I love everything about moving. No, really. EVERYTHING. I am an organizational freak of nature. Its a favorite past time of mine to purge the old, and organize whats left. I view every box I have to pack as a puzzle. And I WILL fill every square inch! Not to toot my own horn or anything (toot-toot) but after moving 10 times in the last 8 years (trust me I am not in the least exaggerating that) I think I have packing down to an art form.  I also love decorating, painting walls, DIY projects, re-arranging furniture, organizing everything, and then, just when my Family/roommates/ husband/whomever thinks they know where something is I change EVERYTHING. I even re-arranged the living room one day, and when my poor unsuspecting roommate came home late that night, and dared to walk through the house with out turning on lights; she tripped over the couch. she blames me. I blame the crazy lady that doesn't turn on light before entering a room.  Perhaps I should make them maps for my home and just hand them out at the door...Maybe.

Also Im a new Mommy. Well I say new Mommy because with two months of experience with baby number 1 under my belt I would hardly call myself a pro. Im still working on figuring out why the heck she is yelling at me half the time. After I change her, feed her, rock her, play with her, sing to her AND cry with her, and nothing seems to work, I am convinced she just wants to get back at me for giving her an eviction notice when she refused to leave my womb. But really she should have known better, hasn't she ever heard the saying 'mom knows best'? Or even 'get the heck out of my belly, mommy is tired of waddling'?! Oh well. she actually is a beautiful and great baby most days, and my family  love her dearly no matter what mood she is in. well, except our first born and very furry child, Monster. Our Wonderful dog is warming up to her, but still thinks its unfair that she gets fed every few hours and talked to all the time. We are working on balance. but quite frankly we tried to give him treats every few hours to make up for his loss, but he was starting to resemble more of a pig than a dog so we had to cut him off.

ok, so this is me. In short, Im a Mom, a Home Owner, a crafter/baker, an animal lover, and perhaps a crazy person... verdict still out on that. But I look forward to blogging and sharing. hopefully at least one person will read.